Aberfan

Sir Karl Jenkins has composed a very moving work, Cantata Memoria - for the children, in remembrance. One of the soloists is Bryn Terfel. I believe a performance is being broadcast on Classic FM on Friday evening.

My mother is from near Aberfan so this tragedy has always been close to our hearts.

9.15am Friday there will be one minutes silence throughout Wales, may I ask you to join us ? And if watching the programmes this week please think of the few who will not be spoken of , the parents who took their lives and Phil who went to work that day and then had to return to face the death of his wife, two sons and even the loss of their house

Aberfan was a wonderful village to grow up in , a very close community and still is .

I have just watched a programme on iplayer called Surviving Aberfan. It is heartbreaking but uplifting too. Marilyn from The Aberfan Young Wives Group also appears in it.

Heartbreaking to this day. The story of the little girl's shoes is unbearably sad.
? Aberfan.

I watched the program too and as I have always found the people of Aberfan have maintained an incredible dignity under such tremendous sorrow.

Aberfan will never be forgotten.

Watched the program last week think it was called "The young wives club" it was all about the young women who formed a club (most of them had lost children at the school)

When they came together at their meetings and social events, no one ever mentioned the children they had lost.They all knew of course but no one ever mentioned it.

It was very sad watching the program, one of the women who of course are now in their late 60s/70 remembered how she had bought her little girl who was 8 some new shoes, the little girl wanted to wear them for school but mum said "no" you can wear them another day.but of course she never got to wear her new shoes for school,the lady always regretted not letter her wear her new shoes that day, but of course no one was to know what would happen that day.
Of course they didn't have the machinery and expertise then to search and rescue like we have today.
It was sad but also how brave those young women were to carry on and support each other as their were so many. I didn't know, but they were all buried on one place up on the hillside.

I have been thinking about the disaster a lot recently, remember it so well. Words now fail me.

We were in Torquay recently and visited Torre Abbey. They have a garden there with plants and bushes bought by the Aberfan families in thanks for the Torquay families who hosted them for a holiday while they were trying to come to terms with their grief .A lovely gesture on both sides.

Heartbreaking